I am on the egde of purchasing two Geforce 7600's to use in SLI mode and was wondering how they are, for anyone who has them now, whether in SLI or not. I know there are not top of the line but they will suit me for now.

1) Is it true that no external power is needed to be plugged in? That would be nice, I would like to keep my case free of cramped cables as nessicary. I like it to look as tidy as possible..it has to look nice..no cables going everywhere.

2) If the 7600 does need to be plugged in, how much power would two of them draw in SLI? Would my 550 watt be ok?

3) For anyone who has these now or did at some point, whether in SLI or not, how were they? how was your experience?

Thanks guys.

shungokusatsu

06-11-06, 12:32 AM

Requirements
Minimum of a 400 Watt power supply.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 18 Amp Amps.)
Minimum 450 Watt for SLI mode system.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 24 Amp Amps.) These are for the 7600 GT.

It does not require a power adapter, but again these cards aren't all that great. A single 7900 beats 7600 SLI. Also these cards only have 256 megs of memory and that could be a problem with high resolutions. A nice top model of this card runs $229, SLI would run you almost $500. A single 7900 GT runs for $299 and again defeasts 7600 SLI in benchmarks. You'll be fine with that psu, the X2 is SLI certified and SLI ready.

Bearclaw

06-11-06, 12:43 AM

Now that you mentioned that 1 7900 beats SLI 7600's then I might just gor for that. Is it one of those 6 pin connector (the rectangle like kind, 3 on top of 3) that connect the video card or is it a normal 4 pin connector?

shungokusatsu

06-11-06, 12:47 AM

Now that you mentioned that 1 7900 beats SLI 7600's then I might just gor for that. Is it one of those 6 pin connector (the rectangle like kind, 3 on top of 3) that connect the video card or is it a normal 4 pin connector?

They require the 6 pin rectangular kind, those 4pin molex ones are done with pretty much. But have no worries, most manufactuars include a 4to6 pin adapter with the card. If you have the money go for an evga 7900 GT SC. eVGA is unbeat in customer service and offers a step up program so you can trade cards in within 90 days towards any card they sell, and you get 100% of what you paid towards the new card you desire.

http://www.evga.com/products/

Bearclaw

06-11-06, 01:04 AM

They require the 6 pin rectangular kind, those 4pin molex ones are done with pretty much. But have no worries, most manufactuars include a 4to6 pin adapter with the card. If you have the money go for an evga 7900 GT SC. eVGA is unbeat in customer service and offers a step up program so you can trade cards in within 90 days towards any card they sell, and you get 100% of what you paid towards the new card you desire.

http://www.evga.com/products/

No worries about the connector. I have a few 6 pin that came with it. I am fine by that. I think I will invest in the evga 7900 GT SC. That trade up program sounds very nice. I heard though, that there have been problems witth gaming and other activities while using a 7800 and a 7900? What about those? Is it a video card issue or a personal computer issue?

shungokusatsu

06-11-06, 02:09 AM

No worries about the connector. I have a few 6 pin that came with it. I am fine by that. I think I will invest in the evga 7900 GT SC. That trade up program sounds very nice. I heard though, that there have been problems witth gaming and other activities while using a 7800 and a 7900? What about those? Is it a video card issue or a personal computer issue?

Those are indeed true, the 7900 series has had some freezing and artifacting issues. Nvidia made an official statement about it recently, it was mainly that the memory used was bad and the cards at the time couldn't handle those o/c speeds. However have no worries, evga offers a lifetime warrenty, and yes they even offer it on those factory o/c cards. They also cross-ship cards so if you do have a problem, they'll send you a new card first and then you can return the bad one. Like I said, they're service is top notch and amazing. Now I have to be honest, I had to RMA a total of 6 cards before mine started working (I had two 7900 GTX SC cards which I stepped up for the 7950's). I had periodic freezing, but once I got a better cooling device all problems ceased, my temp went from 70C+ and dropped down to 30C.

Bearclaw

06-11-06, 02:15 AM

Those are indeed true, the 7900 series has had some freezing and artifacting issues. Nvidia made an official statement about it recently, it was mainly that the memory used was bad and the cards at the time couldn't handle those o/c speeds. However have no worries, evga offers a lifetime warrenty, and yes they even offer it on those factory o/c cards. They also cross-ship cards so if you do have a problem, they'll send you a new card first and then you can return the bad one. Like I said, they're service is top notch and amazing. Now I have to be honest, I had to RMA a total of 6 cards before mine started working (I had two 7900 GTX SC cards which I stepped up for the 7950's). I had periodic freezing, but once I got a better cooling device all problems ceased, my temp went from 70C+ and dropped down to 30C.

What kind of cooling do you have? Because my cooling has always been pretty good by my standards. In the winter when my room is colder my case and stays in the low 70's F and the parts are all under 35C except for the video card which is always under 50C. I have never seen those temperature exceeded in the winter. However, nwo that summer is here my case idles around 85-90 F and the parts dont go above 38. The GPU got to 52 once but that is it. I am wondering what Kind of cooling I would need for my 7900.

I have this:
http://images.tigerdirect.com/skuimages/large/S457-1006.jpg

Would that work?

shungokusatsu

06-11-06, 03:26 AM

What kind of cooling do you have? Because my cooling has always been pretty good by my standards. In the winter when my room is colder my case and stays in the low 70's F and the parts are all under 35C except for the video card which is always under 50C. I have never seen those temperature exceeded in the winter. However, nwo that summer is here my case idles around 85-90 F and the parts dont go above 38. The GPU got to 52 once but that is it. I am wondering what Kind of cooling I would need for my 7900.

I have this:
http://images.tigerdirect.com/skuimages/large/S457-1006.jpg

Would that work?

7900's run hot, and that fan attachment probably won't fit anymore once you go SLI. If your only using a single 7900 you'll be fine. I'm some what of on the extrmeme side lol, I have a theater and lan room which I routed ac vents too all my computers and hdtv displays. Extreme, but I live in the desert where it's constantly 100+ degrees. It's helps significantly, I went from full load 70C to now full load 28-30C.

john19055

06-11-06, 07:36 AM

If you get a 7900GT SC just get a good after market cooler and you will be fine ,myself I use the Zalman VF 900-Cu and it keeps the card cool.